


Cyber Rose

by STRQ



Category: RWBY
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Blood and Gore, Cybernetics, F/F, Family, Quadriplegic, Rebuilding, cyborg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-18 11:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11873751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STRQ/pseuds/STRQ
Summary: 10 year old Ruby rose goes to visit her friend, Weiss Schnee in Atlas, when tragedy strikes; a long Grimm attacks, leaving Ruby near death. one man takes it upon himself to recreate her, to make her his own, perfect daughter and heir.





	1. Rebuilt

When the girl was brought in, she wasn’t immediately identifiable as a human.chunks of hair were torn off her head, the left of her face a mass of scars, her arms at odd angles, bones sticking out, the same for her legs. From her abdomen spilled her innards. All in all, there was no way she could possibly live, considering she was only about ten years old.

But where the other assembled doctors and surgeons saw a corpse, one Atlesian man saw only the perfect candidate. He dismissed all the other doctors, instead, bringing in his own special team. As his tem began preparing her, the man grabbed one doctor, asking what had happened.

“She was brought in by an ex-hunter, from the mild southlands. Her friend claims that grim surprised them, her friend hid, at the cost of her getting mauled.” the bitter disapproval was apparent in his voice.

The man said nothing, instead going over to the broken girl. The various men and woman had examined and removed both her arms, as well as her left leg. Looking at the remaining leg, he instructed for it to be removed as well. Thus began a very long and delicate procedure, as the severely damaged internal organs were removed and replaced with new, cutting edge technology.

After almost 14 hours of surgery, Remnants best doctor finished the last stitch, after replacing the young girls heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and stomach with robotic parts. As she wouldn't need it, her reproductive system was removed to make room for computer systems. The left side of her face was replaced with metal plating and a robotic eye, connected wirelessly to the computer system in her abdomen, giving her direct access to the entire net of information. 

After her life was saved, the surgeries continued, the ones to make her the perfect being, halfway between robot and human. Underneath her skin were paper thin sheets of a rare metal, lighter than paper, stronger than steel plating. Small components were placed inside her bronchial tubes, that would close if sensors in her throat detected water going down the wrong tube, effectively preventing her from drowning. 

Her new arms were made of the same metal, as were the legs. Both were filled with various systems to make her stronger and faster than a normal human, as well as filled with several weapons and defence systems. She was officially named Cybernetically Enhanced Organism 010, or CEO010. Unofficially, the few who knew of her continued existence referred to her as simply “Cyber Rose”.

 

 

 

The man looked through the window. His creation had gone through a total of 5 surgeries, totaling more than 105 hours. The last stitch had closed almost a day ago, and yet she had yet to awaken. His group of professionals had checked and rechecked every system multiple times, saying they were working fine, that the problem probably was rooted in her brain. After several brain scans, they found several issues, specifically, damage to the prefrontal cortex and limbic system.

“When she wakes, if she does, it’s quite possible she will have no memory of her past, as well as any emotion, personality, or even be able to speak, process smells, concentrate, or problem solve.”

After hearing that, the man had the doctor...taken care of, for telling him such. He would have had it done anyways, as the man was not a part of the select few who knew she had survived. The girl's medical records stated she had died during surgery, and in a way, she had. She was not her own person anymore, but now belonged to him. 

She would be his finest creation, better than his eldest, better than his youngest daughter. Better even than his son. She’d be strong, loyal, unwavering in her support. A perfect child, obidiant, and best of all, completely under his control. With a flick of a switch, he could shut down her legs, her arms. Her heart.

Behind him, he heard shuffling. After her last operation, he had his creation moved to his mansion’s med bay, to keep her under close observation. He didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. “I told you to stay in your room, Weiss”. In the reflection of the glass, he saw the girl freeze. With her shoulder length hair, dressed in a plain white cotton dress, she wasn’t much to look at, and not many would, if she han’t been his daughter. Thought only twelve, already some of his business rivals had their older sons trying to take her away from him.

“I-I...just w-wanted to see-”

“Enough” she instantly stopped speaking. He turned, facing her, hands behind his back. He tried to keep himself composed, but couldn’t stop the slight sneer from forming on his face. His wife, pathetic woman, had given him two daughters before finally giving him the son he wanted, yet the son was weak, both in mind and body. Doctors claimed it was because his wife had not been physically fit to bear a third child, but he ignored them. What did they know. 

Besides being the CEO of Remnants largest Dust company, he was also the foremost doctor in the field of cybernetic augmentation. And so, with his knowledge of cybernetics, dust and physiology, he strived to create the perfect child. After the emergence of cybernetics, the law was revised, and one section stated that an heir to any large company must be at least 35% human in order to be within the law. Anything less than 35% would be considered complete robots, and thus had no right to own property. because of this, he could not simply make a robot child, but would have to create a combination of the two. The first attempts were...disastrous. They were mostly prisoners, whose bodies were too old to handle the sudden replacement of most of their limbs and internal organs.

Around the sixth attempt he realized that the test subjects needed to be younger, more malleable, easier to subject to change. The only problem was finding suitable candidates. His own children wouldn't work, too many questions would be asked if they disappeared. The next three came from various places, one a runaway, the other an orphan, the last was abandoned, living on the streets. None worked.

Frustrated, he had almost given up. What he needed was a young, healthy child, who he could make perfect. So when his daughter had invited her friend from Vale over to Atlas, he agreed. The accident with the Grim was unfortunate, but reflecting on it, realized that with such severe injury, it gave him a cause to take her from the normal staff of doctors.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, looking down at his daughter. “You want to see her? The girl whose near death you caused? Have you considered that she might not want to see you?” she shrunk back, shoulders slumping with guilt. “In any case, she has yet to wake up. No one but me and the doctors get to enter the room.” suddenly, he got an idea, one that hopefully he could use to gain another obedient daughter.

“You really want to see your, friend?” she nodded, still looking at the ground. Internally, he smiled, though he kept a server outward look. “Then you will take care of her. After all, this is all your fault” he walked past her, heading out of the room. “All actions have consequences, Weiss” then he closed the door behind him.

 

Weiss stood silently in the small viewing room, feeling as if she was falling down a deep hole, one filled with freezing cold air. She shivered. From where she stood, she could only see the top of Ruby’s head through the window. Slowly, she moved forward, before veering to the left, grabbing a face mask and scrubs from the wall. There were some in her size, a reminder of what her father expected of her. She went over to the door, pulling open the door, feeling the air rush in. what had her father called it, Negative Pressure Room?

On the bed lay her friend, but she looked so different from only a few days ago. Her arms, legs, and half her face, all were made of metal. Around her, various monitors beeped and whirred. Ruby looked peaceful, though the image was ruined slightly by the scars on her face and abdomen, visible as she wore only plain white underclothes. She couldn’t help but remember what had happened, and how everything had gone so wrong.

0-0-0-Memory-0-0-0

“I can’t believe you live in such a big house!”

They were walking by a cliff, the edge of a canyon, a river a hundred feet below. Weiss walked in front of Ruby, so she could warn her of any dips or ice patches. Though it was the first day of summer, so far north they got snow year round.

“Yeah...I don’t like hanging out there though. I much prefer coming here and walking around.” Weiss had taken Ruby directly from the Airship to the limo, traveling down to the southern part of Atlas, where the weather was milder. Ruy was only staying for a few days, before heading back south to enjoy her summer with her family on Patch.

Weiss had met Ruby when her father had some business in Vale for a few weeks, and he had brought Wess along, sending her to the best combat school in that kingdom, Signal Academy, as an exchange student. Signal actually didn’t have an exchange program, but they weren’t going to fight her father. 

The other kids either were afraid of her, or they were trying to get favors out of her. All of them except for two, a girl and her older sister. Their names were Ruby and Yang. Yang was her age, with Ruby being two years younger. They were the only ones who didn’t care who her father was, or how much money her family had. She became friends with both, though mainly with Ruby.

At first it seemed like the sisters were as different in personality as they were in looks. But after being invited to their house, she saw that Ruby was not as quiet and reserved as she had first thought, but instead was bright, energetic and a cheerful optimist. She had the incredible ability to make everyone around her smile, as well as to make cookies disappear. 

At the end of her father’s trip, she invited Ruby to come visit her at her house during summer vacation. Then she went back to Atlas, but even in the cold, she still remembered the warmth that Ruby and Yang had shown her. The summer couldn’t come quickly enough. It seemed to be years later when she got the message that Ruby would be coming for a few days.

She was so excited, she didn’t give much thought to the fact that her father agreed right away. Ruby would be coming, and she had to prepare the best days ever, starting with a visit to her favorite spot. Thing went wrong so fast.

They were just about to head back to the car, when Weiss heard the growling. Her first thought was that it was simply a fox or some other small creature, but then ahead of them, climbing up from the canyon, came a huge black paw, followed by a white bone plated face, with the glowing red eyes.

Panic seemed to make the world slow down, sounds becoming muted and distant. The Grim weren’t supposed to survive this far north, not even here in the comparatively mild Southern Atlas. Distantly she could hear Ruby screaming in fright, and weiss wanted to help her, to pull her and run. But her body had other ideas.

She turned, and ran. Behind her she could hear Ruby, her screaming, calling out for someone,anyone to save her. The screaming only lasted for a few seconds, replaced by horrific sounds, bones snapping, flesh tearing, monster roaring. Weiss felt tears falling, but she kept running, until she reached the limo where the driver, hearing the screams and roars was already on the line with emergency services.

Then the driver pulled out something from the trunk of the car, a gun, before heading toward the...the place...Weiss couldn’t handle it. Shakily she crawled into the open trunk, curling into a ball, before passing out.

 

0-0-0-End Of Memory-0-0-0

 

Now she was here again, looking at her friend, fresh tears falling down her face.

“I’m sorry Ruby….I’m so sorry.” the monitors beeping increased. She was waking up. A team of doctors suddenly rushed in, pushing Weiss out of the way as they began to examine her, while another guy moved around, activating the robotic arms and legs.

“Miss...can you speak?” asked one doctor.

The flurry of activity died down, the room once again silent except for the machines. After one long moment, there came a response, one in a flat, emotioness tone.

“Where am I”


	2. Shattered

The small house was quiet in the predawn darkness. Set far from the road, and surrounded by thick trees, the entire property was surrounded with an aura of calm serenity, privacy, and slight mystery. Like many others in the forests of Patch, this one was log cabin style, though with two floors rather than one.

As dawn approached, the lights in one room came to life, the orange glow spilling through the curtains onto the darkened lawn. The resident of the room, Taiyang Xiao Long, got up to start his day, not knowing what terrible news was heading his way.

Walking quietly to the kitchen, the blond haired man set a pot of coffee to brew, before heading upstairs to awaken his eldest daughter. On the way to wake her up he passed his youngest's room, Ruby's room. He smiled a bittersweet smile; she was due back from Atlas sometime later that day, but he was a little worried that he hadn't heard anything from her. It was unlike her, but he chalked it down to her forgetfulness and the distance.

Arriving at the right room, with it's flaming heart emblem, he knocked a few times, before calling out to Yang.

"Rise and shine sweetie." He received a groan in reply. Rightly so, it was 5:30am, but Yang wanted to become a Huntress, so getting into early starts needed to be as natural as breathing by the time she enrolled, else she'd never get anywhere. Tai headed back down to the kitchen and was greeted with a completed coffee pot. Pouring himself a cup, he went to go check the mail, and bring in the newspaper that had been delivered at 5am, just as it was every day.

Sitting down, he read through the paper, looking at everything from Dust prices increasing, robberies in Vale, and an athlete who was disqualified after it was discovered he was cybernetically enhanced. By the time he was finished reading, it was well past 6. He could hear Yang using the upstairs shower. At least she was up now. So instead of interrupting her or cutting her shower short, he grabbed his clothes and went into the downstairs one.

Ten minutes later he was done, showering quickly became a habit from when he was at Beacon; take too long in there and his teammates would come barging in, Ice Dust in hand. Normally it was Qrow who did it, but the two girls chipped in on occasion, the ravenette doing it reluctantly though. He chuckled at the memory, yet also hoped no one tried that on Yang, less they'd end up with a few broken bones.

Dressed, dried and refreshed, Tai felt he was ready for the day, and anything it could throw at him. Oh, how wrong he was. At first, everything was normal; Yang, being on summer break from school, spent time working on her weapon design. Looking over her shoulder, Tai was impressed, as it seemed to be some sort of dual ranged shot gauntlets.

Afterwards, she and Tai did some unarmed sparring, working on Yang's prefered fighting style. The way she was progressing, he could tell she was relying heavily on punches, with the occasional kick thrown in for good measure. With what he had seen of her weapon's design, she would be formidable once she forged it, as already without it she could knock the wind out of him with one punch.

After their sparring finished at about 12, they took a break to have lunch. While Yang ate - peanut butter and jelly - Tai checked his scroll, and upon seeing no messages, started worrying. Going to a travel website, he saw that three airships had already flown in from Atlas. The fact that Ruby still had yet to contact them at all was very unlike her.

"Yang, get ready to go, we're going to-" he was interrupted by the doorbell. Sighing in relief, thinking it was Ruby, he went over to open it. Instead of his sweet little daughter, there was a grim faced man, dressed in the uniform of an Atlesian Specialist.

"Are you the parent of Ruby Rose?" Tai felt like Yang had punched him again. All the small clues started to add up, and as he put it all together, he felt his knees weaken, but he held himself upright as best he could. "Mr. Rose, is it?"

"Xiao Long, actually. Where is my daughter?"

The Specialist's face was filled with pity. "Can I come in, Sir? This isn't something to talk about on doorsteps" Tai stepped to the side, then closing the door behind the man. Every step he took after the man was shaky, his legs threatening to give out on him for real this time. The man seated himself on the couch, and Tai sat across from him.

"Dad, what's going on?" Yang asked from the entryway of the kitchen, "and who is this man?"

"I'm not sure sweetie. But what I am sure of is that this man is about to tell me where my daughter is" the blond threatened, his paternal instincts kicking in at the lack of solid information on his youngest's whereabouts. The stranger slowly nodded.

"Approximately 36 hours ago, your daughter Ruby was attacked by Grimm in the southern part of Atlas. She was rushed to the best hospital they had up there, but too much time had passed between the call and their arrival, and unfortunately doctors were unable to save her." Yang gasped at the information, tears already forming in her eyes at the thought of her baby sister no longer being with her, but Tai's reaction seemed much worse - he sat there, completely unchanged in look, or posture, or anything really. Even though he appeared unmoved on the outside as any good parent should, his mind came to terms with what he was told.

No...this...can't be happening…

Tai listened as the man kept talking, about his daughter, funeral arrangements, but none of the words sank in. All he could think about was Ruby.

Not Ruby… not my little girl… not Ruby… Ruby…

The world around him was shattering and all he could hear, over and over again, was the last thing Ruby had said to him.

"I'll be back before you know it, Dad."

It was all he could hear.

"I'll be back before you know it, Dad."

No other thing mattered to him anymore, the sound of those words playing on a constant loop in his head in an ultimately fruitless attempt at saving his daughter.

"I'll be home as soon as I can Tai."

As something was put into his hand, there was only silence as his mind took him back further than the past few days. He stood in the porch again, this time with both Yang and Ruby at his side, the youngest only 4 years old and the eldest turning 6 in 9 days. And opposite the three of them was Summer Rose, his second wife.

The first Rose he lost.

 

0-0-0-Memory-0-0-0

 

"Cheer up sunshine, what did I promise?" the woman asked of her step-daughter.

"That you would be home for my birthday?"

"And I won't break that promise." She wrapped her arms around the blonde child who giggled into her cloak and scurried back into the house. Summer then looked at Ruby, her face more downbeat than it ever had been before. "Ruby dear, what's the matter?"

"Don't wan' 'ou to go…" she sulked, clinging onto her Father's leg.

"I know, I don't really want to go either. But I've been called and I must answer." The silver eyed young girl looked at her older counterpart, still unconvinced at the answer. "Come here!" Summer suddenly swooped in and caught her daughter in her arms and swept her off her feet, the toddler laughing hard at the sudden feeling of flight. "Tell you what: you behave for Daddy, and when I get home I'll bake you a batch of cookies, just for you." Young silver eyes shone in delight.

"Really?!"

"Mom's honour." She placed a quick kiss on her daughter's nose and lowered her to the floor. "Now run off and find Yang."

"Love 'ou Mommy!"

"Love you too sweetheart." That left only the couple on the porch.

"I'm with the kids Sum, did you have to take this one on?"

"Sorry Tai," she started, guilt in her voice, "but this one came from Ozpin. You know what he's like."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Besides, it's only for a week - I'll be back for Yang's birthday." He smiled at her, he couldn't stay mad at someone like her.

"You better be," he teased.

"I'll be home as soon as I can Tai." She leaned in and gave him one final kiss before picking up her bags and leaving towards the pickup point, ready for her next mission.

Her last mission.

 

0-0-0-End Memory-0-0-0

 

The blond man was so caught up in his own emotions that before he knew it, hours had passed and the sky was dark. Yang was curled on his lap, tear stains on her cheeks. In his hand was a business card.

Slowly, so very slowly, he picked Yang up and carried her to her bed. He tucked her in, following deeply ingrained habits. Then, once she was safe in bed, he went outside and got into his car. Not to go anywhere, just to sit in. How long he just sat there, he didn't know. At some point, he realized his scroll was ringing.

"Hello?" his voice was ragged, hollow, empty once more. Just as it had been 5 years ago. The one that replied was just as gruff, but not in the same way. This voice was gruff because of the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed.

"Heard the news. You need some company?" Tai didn't know what he wanted right then, besides having both of his daughters back home safe and sound, so with nothing better to do he agreed to meet him at a bar in Vale.

When he arrived, Qrow was already sitting at the bar, drink in hand, another next to him. Tai sat down heavily on the barstool, picking up the glass and draining it, wincing slightly as the burning liquor went down. Without even asking, the bartender refilled his glass.

"How you holding up Tai?" Qrow asked, already drunk, something Tai very much wanted to be. He didn't answer, instead downing another glass. "How's firecracker?" Qrow tried again.

"How do you think we're doing Qrow?" he shot back, emotions already high even before the drinks were getting to him. "Ruby she's… she's…" He couldn't bring himself to say the word, a sigh and a shot being the only suitable replacement for it. Like a flicked switch he was attacking his long-term friend once more "And you were hardly ever there for her, why do you even care?!"

"Why do I care? Tai I may just be a 'stupid drunk' but I'm your friend. I'm their Uncle, so-"

"So why didn't you act like it then?" He downed another glass as he let the words sink in with the avian Hunter to his side. As the bartender went to refill the glass a fourth time, Tai muttered a defeated "just leave the bottle" to the man, who said nothing in return and fulfilled the patron's request. Tai didn't want to drown his sorrows, but damn it if he was going to let this pain sting forever.

"It was safer for everyone if I wasn't around them so much. I didn't want to leave you alone to fend for yourself, so I still visited but kept my distance the rest of the time."

"That's your excuse?" Sad blue eyes looked at his drink as he scoffed. "You Branwens are all the same…"

"What was that Tai?"

"You heard, Qrow! Raven was exactly the same, leaving just because 'it was safer for us'. D'you know what would be nice, Qrow? Do you? Some fucking moral support every once in awhile!"

"What do you think this is then, huh? A charity ball?! I heard the news and I contacted you to see if you were alright. Don't give me that 'I don't give moral support' bullshit, because we both know that it's not true!"

"Then where were you when Summer died?!" the blond finally snapped, standing up now and doing his tipsy best to intimidate his friend, who knew from his years at Beacon that he would be scary when he needed to be, but never intimidating. What he could be though, especially when he was on the wrong side of sober, was brutally harsh.

That question hurt like nothing else for Qrow…

"I was by her side as she took her last breath, that's where!"

… but nowhere even remotely near as much as the answer hurt.

"Oh, so you were there for my wife when she died, but not for my daughter? That's real classy there Qrow!"

"I knew where Summer was Tai! She didn't come back for Yang's birthday and I set off the morning after as fast as I could. I got there and the first thing I saw was her cape, then her weapon, then her! She opened her eyes for no more that 5 seconds, she tried to say something but that was it. She died that day in my arms. At least you didn't have to experience that!"

"Yeah? Well, I've lost my first wife to her own selfish needs, my second one to Oum knows what and now my daughter because of Grimm. You haven't experienced loss like I have, Qrow!"

"It is not a fucking competition Tai!" The pair's argument was getting heated, to the point where a few of the patrons either moved further away, went outside or just finished their drinks and outright left.

"Ruby needed you more than Summer ever did!"

"Don't you dare play favourites between your wife and daughter!"

"Why? You do. You saw so much of Summer in Ruby that you just had to follow after her like a lost Dust-damn puppy! She can't ev- couldn't even defend herself yet. What was stopping you this time?"

"The distance was one thing, the cold was another and the lack of decent drink was the final nail in the coffin."

"And because of that, Ruby had to die?!"

"I couldn't have gone even if I had known she wouldn't make it Tai." That last comment pushed Taiyang past the breaking point. He spun to the side as fast as he could manage and clocked Qrow right across the jaw sending him flying onto the floor.

"MY DAUGHTER IS DEAD!" he bellowed, silencing everyone in the bar, "AND IT IS ALL YOUR DAMN FAULT!" The blond threw what little Lien he had in his pocket on the bar and stormed out to his car, driving off back home in a semi-drunken rage.

"Should I call the authorities for you sir?" the bartender queried as the avian Hunter sat back on his barstool.

"Nah, let him work this out on his own. He needed something to let his anger out on, and I've taken hits from him before." He flexed his jaw muscles and felt a sharp pain where it felt a little loose from the hit. "That said, that's probably the best punch he's done in a long time, considering he polished half of that bottle himself in the time he was here. I think I may need the rest of this to dull the sting" he half told the bartender, half convinced himself as he picked the bottle up and took a swig straight from it.

Get home safe Tai, Qrow thought. For Yang's sake if not your own.

The breeze moved through the trees, making them whisper and sigh. The moonlight glowed gently, illuminating the single white marble marker, making it almost glow silver. A few feet away, Tai kneeled, head bowed. The cliff on the far side of Cliffside Forest was the tallest point in Patch, the only place good enough for Summer. The view over Patch was breathtaking, but it didn't hold his attention like it usually did.

His world was shattered, and there was no one left except Yang to pick up the pieces. She'd already done it once, but to ask it of her again felt like putting her through hell a second time. No, he needed to do this alone.

"I'm sorry Summer," he croaked, alcohol still in his system but not enough to cloud his emotions or let them run free, "I failed you. Ruby's going to be with you soon. She… she was killed by Grimm. A bunch of Beowolves, no less. I hope I'm wrong and that my little girl is still out there, but I've lost so much already that focussing on that would only get me killed quicker. At least you'll have company wherever you are…"

He wiped the tears that threatened to escape his eyes as he stood to leave. "She'll be right here next to you once everything's done. I promise." With that, he turned around and slowly trapsed his way back to his car, the clouds briefly covering the moon in a thin veil that darkened the land.


End file.
